XRP Could Overtake Bitcoin, But Would Need Rapid Growth

Ripple's former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) emeritus David Schwartz says XRP could potentially overtake Bitcoin in market capitalization. However, this would not happen if Bitcoin were to decline, but rather as a result of XRP expanding rapidly and gaining more adoption.

Schwarz made these comments during an X Spaces discussion, where he stated that the broader digital-asset market could expand significantly, allowing both cryptocurrencies to appreciate in value. He emphasized that XRP's potential success would be due to its speed and functionality on the XRP Ledger, making it more attractive than Bitcoin.

The current gap between Bitcoin and XRP is enormous, with CoinCodex estimating that Bitcoin's market capitalization stands at around $1.58 trillion, while XRP's is approximately $88.9 billion. This means that for XRP to flip Bitcoin in terms of market value, it would need to reach a price of around $25.10, assuming Bitcoin remains stable.

This idea may seem far-fetched given the current prices, with XRP trading at around $1.42-$1.44. However, there is some historical precedent for this scenario, as XRP's market capitalization reached about 40% of Bitcoin's value in January 2018.